Facebook Poke App Is Frustrating as Hell

Facebook Poke: Startup Screen

Poke, the new iPhone app from Facebook, lets you send short messages, photos and videos to friends that automatically self destruct after a few seconds. If you have the Facebook app on your phone already, logging in is effortless.

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[More from Mashable: 2012′s Biggest Winners and Losers]

I was never a big poker on Facebook. When I joined the social network in 2007, giving someone a “poke” was still pretty common. It was a connection that stopped short of an actual friend request, a way to test the waters of a reconnection with, say, an ex.

The new app, Facebook Poke (as it’s listed in the App Store), doesn’t have much in common with poking of old. It’s essentially a clone of other texting apps where all the messages have a built-in self-destruct. It’s ideal for clandestine activities, shall we say.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Introduces Snapchat Competitor, Poke]

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have a sudden urge to send one of your Facebook friends a photo of a, er, cucumber. But you don’t want to just send them a cucumber pic that they could post and re-share to the world. Poke lets you send the pic, but the recipient will only have 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds to view your majestic vegetable. And they need to press and hold the screen while viewing, or the pic goes away.

You can send photos, videos or text messages via Poke, although you can’t use it for anything too elaborate since the message content lasts 10 seconds maximum. After that, boom. The message, whatever it was, is gone forever. There isn’t even a record on the sender’s phone (although a log of who you’ve poked and who’s poked you still remains).

Poke is pretty unforgiving. The recipient must press and hold the notification to see the content. Once you touch, the countdown starts, and there’s no going back — even if you let go. Videos just stop, with no chance of re-watching. You slip, and you’re done.

I suspect Poke will engender a lot of frustration because of this limitation. You feel as if it should at least pause the countdown when you remove your finger.

The app also lets you just “poke” people — meaning send a message with no content — about the only way the app is similar to the old act of poking. Those are just simple notifications, and don’t expire.

It gets more annoying: All your poke recipients need to download the app to see them. Poking only works on mobile right now, and Facebook’s been careful to ensure notifications for incoming pokes only appear in its mobile apps.

Checking out your profile on the web won’t reveal any trace of poking. On a smartphone, a note appears that encourages pokees to download the app.

What if someone does a screengrab of your poke, turning it into something more permanent? There’s nothing you can do, but the app will inform you if someone does that, with a “flash” icon beside their name in your feed. If you see your ephemeral wild moment appear on Tumblr the next day, at least you’ll know who to blame.

Poke isn’t that intuitive. It displays some basic instructions when you first log in, but would benefit greatly from one of those tutorial overlays that have become ubiquitous among iOS apps. Also, I find it odd that your front-facing camera isn’t selected by default. But maybe my expectation for the subject material of most pokes is off the mark.

You can add text and colored line drawings to any pics you send. That’s helpful to get the attention on the thing in the photo you really want the person to look at in those three seconds of poke life.

At first I found it frustrating that Poke doesn’t let you take horizontal photos or videos. But that’s actually a good idea. If you think about it, if the only people seeing this content are people glancing at their phones for a few seconds, so vertical pics make total sense. In the time it took a person to turn their phone and the accelerometer to react, the message will probably be gone. If you want masterpieces, try Flickr.

Bottom line: Poke is an annoying app, but it probably has more to do with the nature of what it’s trying to do than any design flaws. How do you like Poke? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, jcsmily

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Buzzmakers: New X Factor and Miss Universe Winners

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. 'The X Factor' Crowns A Winner!

And the $5 million recording contract goes to…

Tate Stevens! The 37-year-old country crooner beat out runner-up 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar for the top prize Thursday night. 35 million votes were cast Wednesday to determine victory for L.A. Reid's mentee.

Near tears, the Raymore, Missouri native thanked his fans for their overwhelming support.

"This is the best day of my life," said an emotional Stevens.

Girl group Fifth Harmony, mentored by Simon Cowell, placed third in the competition. Earlier in the night, the holiday themed finale saw performances by One Direction and Pitbull.

Auditions for an all-new season of The X Factor USA have already begun online. In-person auditions will start on March 6, 2013 in Los Angeles.

The celebrity judging panel has yet to be announced, but L.A. Reid has already taken himself out of the running. Spears has expressed interest in returning to the show for season three, but nothing has been confirmed.

2. Miss Universe 2012 Crowned

Beauties from 89 countries strutted their stuff Wednesday night in pursuit of the Miss Universe crown, but only one woman would earn the coveted title.

In the end a panel of ten celebrity judges, including Cee Lo Green and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, appointed Miss USA Olivia Culpo the winner.

The 20-year-old Rhode Island native beat out Miss Brazil (Gabriela Markus) Miss Philippines (Janine Tugonon), Miss Mexico (Irene Sofía Esser Quintero), and Miss Australia (Renae Ayris) for the distinction.

Culpo follows in the footsteps of Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, who earned the crown in 2011.

The two-hour show was broadcast live from Las Vegas with musical acts One Direction and Train lending their talents to the annual extravaganza.

3. Exclusive: Arsenio on His Late Night TV Return

Break out the Woof! Woof! fist pump: Arsenio Hall is coming back to late night TV in the Fall of 2013 after a 17-year break from the game, and only ET is behind the scenes with the timeless talk show host as he shoots his first-ever promo for The Arsenio Hall Show!

"[This is] the first time America will see anything on television about the show," says Arsenio. "Instead of a commercial where I do something like say, 'I'm baaaaack' -- and everybody's, 'Ugh' -- they've come up with a real, unique, creative angle that -- actually, I looked at dailies, and it scared me. I looked at the dailies and I frightened myself."

The trailer-length promo from CBS Television Distribution pays homage to horror movies and begins airing today on all Arsenio Hall Show affiliate stations, kicking off the campaign for the new late night syndicated talk show that will be seen all across the country next year.

"I'm real excited about this; so many things have changed in pop culture since I left the air," says Arsenio about his return to late night. "I can't wait."

The Arsenio Hall Show premieres on 9/9/13. Look for much more with Arsenio between now and then, only on ET!

4. Claire Danes Gives Birth

It's a boy!

Homeland star Claire Danes and her husband Hugh Dancy welcomed their very first child together on Monday, December 17, her rep confirms to People Magazine.

The proud parents named their bouncing baby boy Cyrus Michael Christopher Dancy.

Danes, 33, wed Dancy, 37, in 2009 after two years of dating.

5. President Obama is Time's Person of the Year

For 2012, Time Magazine has selected President Barack Obama as their Person of the Year.

"For finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union, Barack Obama is Time's 2012 Person of the Year," Time's Managing Editor Richzard Stengel explained.

He also cited both of the president's re-elections, snagging over 50 percent of the popular vote, as one reason he received this honor.

This is the second year Time has tapped Obama as their Person of the Year -- he previously was selected in 2008 for becoming the first black president of the United States.

Time previously named the eight finalists for 2012's Person of the Year. They included: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for her crusade for better girls' education), Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the three scientists who discovered the Higgs Boson particle.

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Staten Island man killed in early-morning house fire

A Staten Island man was killed when an early-morning fire swept through his home, police and relatives said.

Jameek Champagne, 23, died in the third-floor attic of the home on Osgood Avenue in Clifton. His brother and grandfather escaped the blaze uninjured.

A neighbor reported the blaze after seeing flames erupt from the house at about 5:40 a.m. He banged on the door in a frantic effort to awaken its residents.

The fire was extinguished about an hour after it started, according to an FDNY spokesman. Fire marshals are investigating what caused it.

About ten cars full of grief-stricken relatives and friends came to the scene to mourn Champagne. His devastated girlfriend said that the two had a newborn girl and a 1-year-old boy.

G.N.Miller/New York Post

The Staten Island house after it was damaged by the fire

“We’re just trying to find out how this happened,” Champagne's uncle said, weeping.

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Great-grandmother leads annual Miami-Dade, Monroe toy drive

Beginning in August, Bunchy Gertner puts aside her social life, her needs and even her great-grandchildren to head over to the “North Pole,” the place where she stores, wraps and distributes thousands of toys destined for foster care children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

“This is top banana,” said Gertner referring to the nonstop volunteer work she has done for the past 16 years. “Every kid will get a gift and — even if it’s just for a moment — they will know that someone cares.”

It’s Gertner who dedicates her time to planning and execution of the toy drive that will distribute 3,400 gifts to the children under Our Kids, a non-profit agency that provides foster care and related services in Miami and the Florida Keys.

“She focuses solely on the toy drive and lives to match the right toy with the right child,” said Fran Alegra, Our Kids CEO. “I don’t have staff that would be able to dedicate the time that she gives to this.”

Over the years, 78-year-old Gertner has not only given every foster child a gift, but she has made sure that everyone receives a good quality, age appropriate present.

“I think I have 3,400 children,” said Gertner. “Thank God I didn’t give birth to all of them and they’ve all left the house. But I feel like they’re all mine.”

Gertner has even made it her mission to look after the children who are aging out of foster care and are considered independent living. For these teens, she prepared a gift that includes a comforter, sheets, pillow cases, hand towels, bath towels, glass wear, pillows, dishes, pots and pans.

“They have no money when they leave foster care,” said Gertner. “I give them what a mom and dad would give a child who was going off to college or going off on their own.”

In order to raise money and collect presents, Gertner has relied on about 50 sponsors, who are responsible for collecting gifts. She distributes the first names of children with their age, gender and ethnicity to provide each child with an appropriate gift.

“I became a beggar. I got down on my hands and knees and begged everyone that I met,” said Gertner. “I write letters, I make phone calls and ask if they would want to help or if they know anyone who would want to do it.”

Once she receives the gifts from the sponsors, they are taken to her North Pole, which this year is an empty store donated by Gulfstream Park.

There, she sorts the presents that come with a specific child’s name by agency and begins wrapping the gifts that she receives with no specific name.

“I couldn’t do it alone,’’ said Gertner, who refers to her helpers as elves. “If it weren’t for the people helping me wrap and the sponsors, I wouldn’t have a toy drive.’’

On any given 10-hour work day, the volunteers, which range in numbers from a handful to two dozen, show up to wrap and sing holiday songs.

“This is better than staying at home in bed all day,” said Rivly Breus, a student at Florida Atlantic University. With a little experience under her belt from wrapping at Macy’s, Breus decided to Google a way she could volunteer her talents.

“It was hard for me growing up so it’s good to be able to shine a light on others,” Breus said.

Some come with no experience, like Gonzo Gonzalez, who often has to patch the spaces where he didn’t use sufficient paper.

“I didn’t have it easy growing up, but at least I had my parents,” said Gonzalez, who wrapped about 30 footballs on a recent Sunday. “It’s good to be able to give back. The kids who don’t have parents are not expecting anything.”

Although, Gertner does not give the presents directly to the children for privacy reasons, she is satisfied with knowing that there is a child at the end of every present. She said she will continue to do it until she can’t anymore.

“I know in my heart that what I do is enough,” said Gertner. “When I go to bed I know that I have fulfilled my mission and done my job well.”

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Brain Benefits for the Holidays? Stuff the Stocking with Video Games

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Ryan Gosling Looks to 'The Place Beyond the Pines'

Ryan Gosling wants to provide for the son he just discovered he had with Eva Mendes, so naturally he decides to rob a bunch of banks. And Bradley Cooper is a rookie cop, also a father, who bumps up against corruption in the ranks. Both of their characters are heading for a violent collision in The Place Beyond the Pines, and we've got a first look at the dramatic trailer.

Related: Ryan Gosling to Make Directorial Debut

Ryan and Bradley's forceful confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud in the epic thriller that traces the intersecting lives of fathers and sons, cops and robbers, heroes and villains.

Related: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams Get Close in 'Blue Valentine'

In theaters March 29, 2013, The Place Beyond the Pines reunites Ryan with his Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfranc and features supporting turns by Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne and Ray Liotta.

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Watch and remember some of the memorable stories of 2012

2012 is on its last hoorah as the New Year approaches.

To commemorate the changing of the guards, The New York Post took a look back at some of the most memorable moments we caught on video.

Actress Lindsay Lohan kept Page Six busy this year as she became a a frequent visitor of the NYPD. On one occasion, she allegedly clipped a pedestrian with her SUV on her way to a club. A couple of months later, a woman claimed the actress punched her at a Manhattan lounge.

But, it wasn’t all bad news for Lohan. She gained a sister when her father, Michael, officially discovered he was the father of 17-year-old Ashley Horn.

Lilo wasn’t the only celebrity allegedly behaving badly in New York. Witnesses say Hip-Hop stars Chris Brown and Drake were involved in a bottle-throwing melee at the club W.I.P. that led to some injuries.

In more somber news, Superstorm Sandy destroyed thousands of homes in the Northeast and killed dozens of people.

It was also a feel-good sports year in New York. The Giants won the Super Bowl, New Yorkers helped represent Team USA at the Olympics and, in a short NBA season, Linsanity rushed through the city. Then, just as fast, Jeremy Lin blew out of town.

The year also saw, the end of Twinkies, a man with the tallest Mohawk in history, the end of MTV’s Jersey Shore, nude body paint arrests, fights over a anti-Jihad subway poster and more.

Goodbye 2012. Hello 2013.

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Brazilian carrier now offering daily flights at MIA

Brazilian budget airline GOL is now offering daily flights between Miami International Airport and Sao Paulo. The scheduled service started Dec. 15.

The airline had been offering weekly charter flights since July.

GOL is the third airline to fly daily between Miami and Sao Paulo, along with American Airlines and TAM. Brazil is the airport’s top international market; last year, more than 1.4 million passengers flew between Miami and seven destinations in the country.

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Teen charged in bus shooting remains on house arrest

When 20 school children were shot and killed in Newtown, Conn. last Friday morning, few people in South Florida felt the pain as deeply in her heart as Ady Guzman-DeJesus.

Exactly a month ago, Guzman-DeJesus, just like many of the Connecticut parents, sent her daughter off to school. And hours, later, her daughter, 13, was fatally shot by a young man wielding a gun that had been stored in his mother’s Homestead home.

“I was in the car when I heard about the shootings on the radio,” Guzman-DeJesus recalled. “Everything just came back to me. I began crying and shaking so badly that my friend had to come and help me out of my car.’’

Guzman-DeJesus said she posted some condolences on Sandy Hook Elementary school’s Facebook page.

“I just wanted to tell them that I knew how they felt,’’ she said.

Guzman-DeJesus, in Miami-Dade court Thursday, wept at the memory, as prosecutors agreed to allow her daughter’s shooter, 15-year-old Jordyn Alexander Howe, to be released from juvenile detention where he had been held since the Nov. 20 killing. Howe, who did not appear in court, was ordered to remain on house arrest, monitored by an ankle device, pending his next hearing set for Jan. 23.

Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus, whose nickname was “Jina,” was killed when Howe packed a .40-caliber pistol in his backpack and took it out on the school bus transporting kids to three charter schools in Southwest Miami-Dade. The gun went off, striking Lourdes in the neck. Howe, a student at Somerset Academy Silver Palms, faces charges of manslaughter and carrying a concealed weapon.

The incident happened as the bus was driving children near SW 296 Street and SW 137 Avenue in Homestead. Lourdes, a student at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy, was shot in front of her 7-year-old sister. About seven other students were on the bus when the gun went off, police said.

Prosecutors on Thursday asked the judge for 30 additional days to decide whether to charge Howe as an adult. Judge Richard Hersch agreed to the extension, warning Howe’s public defender that if the teen violated the terms of his release, he would be taken into custody.

Miami-Dade police detectives continue their investigation. After the shooting, they said it appeared that Howe had taken the gun from his parents’ closet and had brought it to school at least once before. The day of the shooting, he was on the bus, showing the gun to another student when it suddenly discharged. Thus far, no charges have been brought against his parents.

Under Florida’s Child Access Prevention Law, it is a felony for a gun owner to leave a firearm where a child can access it, brandish it in public or use it to harm another person.

Gun law expert Jon Gutmacher said that by the time a child is 15, however, they are old enough to know not to bring a gun to school.

“It’s obviously a tragedy. You have a child who takes possession of a highly dangerous instrument. He knows he’s committing a crime and knows it at that age. A weapon doesn’t fire itself. It’s a .40-caliber semi-automatic… and it takes somebody to pull the trigger,’’ said Gutmacher, an NRA firearms trainer and attorney.

However, sources close to the case said Howe had a younger sibling in the home. Gutmacher said if there is a child under the age of 12 in the home, parents should have had the gun locked in a safe.

Howe’s family thus far have declined comment on the case. The gun allegedly was owned by Howe’s stepfather.

“This gun was not in a secure place, there is a younger child in that house, and the parents had the responsibility to keep that gun locked up,’’ said DeJesus family spokesman Ron Book, a lobbyist and child-safety advocate.

“A lot of people are talking around the country today about added laws that ought to be passed,’’ he said.

“But we’ve got laws in place that should have protected this parent and her children and we expect justice to be done and for him to be charged as an adult.’’

Ady Guzman-DeJesus said she believes that God will guide investigators to do the right thing. But, she said, she believes the boy who killed her daughter should be punished.

“He just has to pay,’’ she said.

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RIM loses BlackBerry subscribers for first time

TORONTO (AP) — Research In Motion‘s stock plunged in after-hours trading Thursday after the BlackBerry maker said it plans to change the way it charges fees.

RIM also announced that it lost subscribers for the first time in the latest quarter, as the global number of BlackBerry users dipped to 79 million.

In a rare positive sign, the Canadian company added to its cash position during the quarter as it prepared to launch new smartphones on Jan. 30. The new devices are deemed critical to the company’s survival.

RIM’s stock initially jumped more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on that news, but then fell $ 1.48, or 10.4 percent, to $ 12.65 after RIM said on a conference call that it won’t generate as much revenue from telecommunications carriers once it releases the new BlackBerry 10 platform.

RIM is changing the way it charges service fees, putting an important source of revenue at risk. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said only subscribers who want enhanced security will pay fees under the new system.

“Other subscribers who do not utilize such services are expected to generate less or no service revenue,” Heins said. “The mix in level of service fees revenue will change going forward and will be under pressure over the next year during this transition.”

RIM’s stock had been on a three-month rally that has seen the stock more than double from its lowest level since 2003.

But Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said BlackBerry 10 will change RIM’s services revenue model dramatically. He said that instead of getting about $ 6 per device each month from carriers and users RIM could get as little as zero.

“That’s what turned the stock from being up 10 percent to being down 10 percent,” Walkley said. “That’s been part of our worry. How do they come back with a new platform and get carriers to continue to share the higher revenue —which sounds like they are not going to— and then subsidize the phone to make it affordable for consumers and enterprises.”

“People are seeing that the services revenue has a lot of risk to it now with the BlackBerry 10 migration.”

Three months ago, RIM had 80 million subscribers. Analysts said the loss of 1 million subscribers was expected. Once coveted symbols of an always-connected lifestyle, BlackBerry phones have lost their luster to Apple’s iPhone and phones that run on Google’s Android software.

RIM is banking its future on its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 platform, which is meant to offer the multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers now demand.

“We believe the company has stabilized and will turn the corner in the next year,” Heins said. He noted that the company’s cash holdings grew by $ 600 million in the quarter to $ 2.9 billion, even after the funding of all its restructuring costs. RIM previously announced 5,000 layoffs this year.

Heins said subscribers in North America showed the largest decline, but said there is growth overseas.

Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial, said before the conference call that the company bought itself more time.

“It doesn’t mean (BlackBerry) 10 will gain traction. A lot of people said 10 would be DOA, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case,” he said.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also earlier called the results better than expected, noting that RIM added a significant amount of cash. RIM will need the money to advertise the new BlackBerrys and operating system.

Misek also called it a positive development that RIM said there would not be another delay to BlackBerry 10.

“The success or failure of this company will be on BlackBerry 10,” Misek said.

RIM posted net income of $ 14 million, or 3 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 1. That compares with a profit of $ 265 million, or 51 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

The latest figure includes a favorable tax settlement. Excluding that adjustment, RIM lost 22 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a wider loss of 27 cents.

RIM reported revenue of $ 2.7 billion, down 47 percent from a year ago.

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